


contact

by ryvrr



Series: kill them with kindness [2]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Background Pricefield, Gen, Kate Marsh centric, POV Female Character, POV Third Person, Post episode 5, Post-Canon, Pre-PriceMarshField
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 17:43:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5465318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryvrr/pseuds/ryvrr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The e-mails she’d gotten from Max lately had been lighter, less weighed down. There’d even been some pictures attached. A smiling glimpse of Chloe Price at the ocean, pictures of sunsets and seagulls, a selfie of Max frowning solemnly at the mirror but dressed up for a formal photo gallery she’d gone to later that night. Kate enjoyed each new picture as Max sent them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	contact

An e-mail was so impersonal, Kate mused as soon as she’d gotten home. It would be better if she picked up the phone and _called_ Max. It’d be easier that way too, a more direct line of contact, but… Kate didn’t want to risk bothering Max if she was busy.

Kate fumbled with her phone a little, as she turned it over and over in her hands. There’d be no damage if she called and Max didn’t answer. Max wouldn’t answer if she was truly busy, right? Maybe she was out with that Chloe girl, the one Kate had heard a lot about from Max but had never really met yet. The one who’d followed her to California when Max had gotten accepted into a good photography program there.

She slid a finger over the display and watched as it lit up. Kate didn’t have a lot left over from her time in Arcadia Bay. There wasn’t even an Arcadia Bay left once she’d left, truth be told. The survivors who’d managed to escape with their lives had all drifted to other parts of Oregon. No one had seemed to want to rebuild after the calamity that had happened there. 

Kate, herself, had been lucky she’d escaped unscatched. Her family had come to collect her earlier that day and take her back home, insistent that she needed time away from Arcadia Bay. Kate had been horrified when news had hit about the hurricane, about all the destruction, about there being so little news. She’d tried to contact her friends, but no one had answered their calls and, after awhile, they went straight to voicemail. 

She didn’t think it would ever get easier to think about. Just remembering the events made her throat feel like it was closing up. There had been survivors, but not… there was a lot of loss. Kate herself had even lost a friend or two to the storm. She’d convinced her parents to let her go back for the funerals. She’d been close to Alyssa, and… it still hurt to think about how Alyssa was gone now. 

The few times Kate had been able to talk to Max on the phone-- and only once, in person-- the brunette had seemed completely miserable and guilt ridden. Kate had had a hard time understanding _why_ Max felt like any of it had been her fault. She’d stayed close to Chloe throughout the services for those who’d been lost, both girls’ hands held tight. Kate had felt like an interloper as she stood next to them, as she listened to the quiet murmuring Chloe said into Max’s ear, but not being able to make out the precise words. 

She was glad they had each other. The e-mails she’d gotten from Max lately had been lighter, less weighed down. There’d even been some pictures attached. A smiling glimpse of Chloe Price at the ocean, pictures of sunsets and seagulls, a selfie of Max frowning solemnly at the mirror but dressed up for a formal photo gallery she’d gone to later that night. Kate enjoyed each new picture as Max sent them. 

Kate didn’t have much to send back. She wasn’t like Max. She didn’t take photos every day, but she did draw. She sent little doodles of an art project she’d begun for maybe a future children’s book, she sent a dump of little sketches she’d drawn one day when she’d couldn’t get Arcadia Bay out of her head: one of Alyssa staring at that old message board in the dorm hallway, Stella with her nose stuck in a book, Brooke and the smirk she used to flash whenever someone would ask her about science. There had even been one of Max when she’d come to visit Kate in the hospital, smiling sweetly and perched on the edge of the hospital’s chair across from a miniature Kate. 

Kate preferred to draw her normal cartoonish characters, and there were more of those than anything else. She had started to take her phone out for selfies to send along with her e-mails, because she didn’t want to keep sending the same old cartoons to Max over and over. Kate mostly was working on what would possibly one day become that children’s book she wanted to make, and she felt that Max might get bored if that was the only thing Kate sent her. 

So instead Kate went around and took pictures of New York. She wasn’t as good at it as Max was, but that was a given. She’d taken those photography courses in Arcadia Bay mostly out of interest, not any real talent of her own for the art. She was much better at drawing than she was behind a camera lens. New York, however, had so many things she could snap a quick picture of to send to Max. She went to Times Square once, just so she could take some pictures, and nearly got lost in all the hubbub and crush of people. Kate had to find a little corner to sit down at and quiet her nerves before she could leave. She didn’t go anywhere busy like that again, she felt too anxious after. 

It was still nice, though, to explore New York. She went only to the safe places in the light of day, the park maybe and some little mom and pop stores she’d heard about on campus. Besides school and work, she mostly spent time to herself in her dorm room, doing class work and listening to music. Well, there was also her psychologist, but they’d cut down her appointments to only once a week, so she didn’t have to go there too often. 

Kate shook her head and dragged herself out of her thoughts. Her phone had long since gone back to sleep, and she tapped her fingers gently against the screen again to wake it up. “Max,” she muttered to herself as she opened her contacts and scrolled through the options. She opened up the old group of contacts titled _Arcadia Bay_ , and her fingers hovered over all the old phone numbers still held within there. Kate had never gotten around to deleting them. 

One finger traced over Alyssa’s name, at the very top, and Kate breathed in through her teeth to settle her nerves. She thought about deleting the old contacts for a moment before she pulled her finger away and scrolled down. No, not today. She wasn’t ready just yet to say goodbye for good. 

“Max,” she said again when she found the contact. She clicked on it so that it opened up further details before her finger hovered over the call button. She glanced to the top right to calculate what time it would be in California. It eight in the evening here, so it would only be five where Max was. She pressed the call button before she could rethink her decision. 

The phone rang a few times and Kate chewed on the tip of her dominant hand’s thumb, worrying. Maybe she should hang up? Or she could leave a message. Max’s phone was definitely going to tell her Kate had called, and she’d hate for Max to worry when she saw the notification later. Kate had just begun to go over a message in her head when the phone stopped ringing and clicked, before Max said, “Hello?” 

“Max!” Kate responded. “Hi!” 

“Hi, Kate,” Max said and there was a smile in her voice. There was most definitely a smile in her voice. Kate’s hand fell away from her mouth and she smiled a little in response. Why had she been worried again? Max was so sweet and kind! She should have known calling her wouldn’t be a big deal. “Is everything alright?” 

“Yes, I,” Kate trailed off for a moment and then laughed softly. “Sorry! To call you so out of the blue. I just wanted to talk. I miss you.” 

“I miss you too, Kate,” Max replied without a pause, like she didn’t even have to think about it, like it was something that occurred to her everyday. The sky is blue, the Earth circles around the sun, Max misses Kate. “How’s New York been? I got your e-mail the other day. I really like that selfie you took in that office you work at. Your coworker Karen sounds nice.” 

Kate laughed before she could help it. She felt more at ease now, a weightless sensation in her stomach as she smiled at Max’s words. “She is! She’s… I really like her. She’s very sweet.” Kate paused. “Not as great as you though, of course.” 

“Of course,” Max replied and there was a laugh hidden under the words, amusement and a flattered sort of happiness that Kate would think so. 

“How are things in California?” Kate asked. She didn’t want silence to fall between them. It was nice to have this easy sort of conversation flowing. “How’s Chloe?” 

“Chloe’s good,” Max responded. “She got a part time job and we found an apartment to stay at together. I’m working at a photo gallery now!” Kate perked up at the news. “You remember when I told you two weeks ago I had an interview? They called the other day to tell me. I was going to tell you tomorrow in our weekly Saturday emails.” 

“That’s great!” Kate said and meant it. “Work is nice. It helps keep your mind off things…” Kate drifted off a moment later and realized she’d put her foot in her mouth. What a horrible thing to bring up when they’d been having such a nice conversation. 

Max didn’t seem at all troubled by it however. There was a small pause, but otherwise she sounded fine as she said, “Yeah. I’m glad to have more things to do. It helps, all the school work and projects, and Chloe of course.” 

“You and Chloe…?” Kate asked. It was a question she’d been avoiding, but she couldn’t stop herself from asking it. She wanted to know. She felt like she needed to know. Would Max have less time for her if she had a girlfriend? Would she not respond as much? Kate’s heart clenched at the thought of them drifting apart. Kate had lost so many friends already in the last two years. She’d hate to lose more. 

“Me and Chloe,” Max replied with a smile. “Yeah. That’s a… thing. Definitely a thing.” 

“I’m happy for you,” Kate told her, because she was. Max deserved some happiness. After everything that had happened, with Arcadia Bay and the storm and… Jefferson… well! Max deserved someone to lean on and be happy with. Max hummed in response and then silence fell between them. Kate ignored the very small part of her that curled up in jealousy and misery at the confirmation. Chloe and Max, Max and Chloe, together, dating. Kate wasn’t lying when she said she was happy for Max, but… a small part of her was sad too. 

Kate breathed in after the silence stretched a little too long. “I should go,” she finally said on the tail end of a sigh. “I have so much homework!” 

“Same,” Max commiserated. “Okay, well… we should talk again like this soon!” 

“Maybe we should do weekly phone calls _and_ emails?” Kate asked. She tried not to sound too hopeful. She’d hate to force Max into something she didn’t want to do. 

The smile was evident in Max’s words as she said, “Definitely. We definitely should, Kate.” 

“I’ll talk to you later then, Max!” Kate replied. 

“Bye, Kate. Talk to you soon.” 

Kate hung up right after and set the phone down on the bed beside her. She surveyed it for several long, quiet moments as she let her thoughts settle in her head. That was… Kate felt a lot better actually, after being able to have a real conversation with Max. Max was one of her few friends left from Arcadia Bay. It was… it was good, being able to talk to her like old times. 

Maybe she should send Stella a text. They used to be friends too, her and Stella and… Alyssa. The three of them had spent many a night holed up in each other’s dorm rooms, chattering about books and dreams and tea. Stella and she hadn’t talked much since the disaster that had been Arcadia Bay’s storm, but… it would be nice. Not as nice as talking to Max, but still nice. Comforting. 

Kate picked up her phone and reopened her contacts. She hit the button to call before she could second guess herself. This time the phone only rang twice before someone answered. “Hi!” Kate greeted. “Stella, it’s been a long time. How are you?” Kate settled back into the pillows on her bed, a small smile on her lips, as she listened to her friend reply.


End file.
